"Don't be afraid of ten thousand, just fear the one," Li Zixin said anxiously.
The county magistrate patted his shoulder and shook his head with a smile, "You are still too young and can't handle things. If he really shows his face, it won't be too late for us to make a move. Don't forget, I'm the one who reviews the papers in the end."
Li Zixin slapped his forehead. He was so worried that he had forgotten this. When taking the scholar exam, all test papers had to be reviewed by the county magistrate and others, and the county magistrate made the final decision.
Understanding this, he breathed a sigh of relief, thanked the magistrate, and the two began to chat about county affairs.
Li Changqing thought his father, upon learning of his mother's recent situation, would take a series of actions. To his surprise, after waiting and waiting, everything remained calm. He couldn't ask directly for fear of arousing suspicion, so he could only worry in secret.
Liu Wenwen was not one to sit idly by. Seeing that Wang Yumeng was not appeasing them, she discussed it with Li Changqing and decided to stir up trouble.
Li Changqing wholeheartedly agreed with this. He felt that if he, who was not favored by his father or mother, didn't do anything, he would be abandoned.
One day, Aunt Liu and Aunt Wu were strolling in the courtyard. As they walked to the wall, they overheard two maids whispering. They were already quite curious about everything in the mansion, and what they were discussing seemed to involve them, so they quickly stopped and slowly approached to hear clearly.
"Don't look at how glamorous Aunt Wu and Aunt Liu are now. After they give birth, they won't be as good as us."
"Really? Isn't it that a child elevates the mother? The master desperately wants a son. As long as they give birth to a son, they will be the most important person in the mansion."
"Don't be too naive. If that were the case, why would the madam be indifferent and the eldest young master not care? Actually, let me tell you a secret. I once accidentally overheard the master and madam talking about sending the children away and keeping the mothers after these two concubines give birth to sons."
"No way? The master would agree? How do they plan to deal with them?"
"Shh, we can't guess randomly. Even if the master wanted to keep them, the county magistrate and the Wu family wouldn't agree. Besides, once they disappear, the madam will find two more concubines for the master. With beauties on both sides, how could he remember the old ones?"
"That's true. Let's leave quickly. The master will be back soon. We need to serve him."
"Go, hurry up. It's none of our business whether they live or die. Serving the master is our duty."
"Exactly, exactly."
Aunt Liu and Aunt Wu, separated by a wall, turned pale and looked at each other.
They lost all mood and walked back in a daze. Upon returning to their courtyards, they quickly drank some tea to calm their nerves.
Aunt Liu was the first to lose her composure, looking at her in a state of shock, "Sister, do you think what they said is true?"
Aunt Wu couldn't answer either. They were all common people from the city. They were only chosen by the Li family because they were good-looking. They had heard before that wealthy families were not easy to live in. Since entering the mansion, besides the madam who couldn't be offended, everything else was manageable. They never expected to hear such a shocking secret today, which broadened their understanding.
To test whether the news was true, the two pretended to meet the madam's personal maid, Dong Mei, on their way to the kitchen.
Aunt Wu stepped forward with a smile and said respectfully, "Miss Dong Mei, I'm truly sorry. We offended you with our words last time. Please be magnanimous."
Dong Mei rolled her eyes disdainfully and said irritably, "It seems your beating was not in vain. If you had had this attitude before, you wouldn't have been beaten. Alright, the past is the past. From now on, avoid me. I am the madam's personal maid, and it's best if we have no contact."
Seeing her arrogant attitude, Aunt Liu didn't mind and said with a flattering smile, "Yes, yes. Through the incident last time, we clearly understood our status and knew that we were chosen to enter the mansion because the Li family needed sons to continue the lineage. Once we give birth to a son, we will strongly persuade the master to have our son adopted by the madam. If the master disagrees, we will kneel until he agrees."
Dong Mei looked down at them from above, feeling like she was watching a show, and said disdainfully, "It's good that you know your place."
Then she ignored them and quickly left with the food box. The madam was waiting for her meal.
This left the two stunned women, who had said so much but couldn't get any useful information.
Upon returning, they thought more and more about it and felt uneasy. They wanted to bribe someone to get some information. Of course, they couldn't bribe the confidantes of the master and madam, as it might alert them. However, those who were more distantly related to the master and madam didn't know these secrets, and they couldn't think of a method in a short time. To save their lives, they unanimously decided not to have children for the time being.
So, the two joined forces and spent a lot of money to hire a doctor to prescribe them a contraceptive soup. Whenever the smell of medicine was detected, their personal maids would sigh and tell others that the concubines wanted to establish themselves in the mansion and get pregnant quickly, but unfortunately, there had been no good news for so long. So, they had hired a doctor to prescribe some medicine to regulate their bodies.
When Wu Lian'er heard about this, she curled her lips disdainfully and didn't take it to heart at all. Li Zixin, thinking that they, as the people in the mansion said, wanted to quickly give him a son, even sent them some silver. He was also anxious, fearing their recent expenses were too high. He thought that they had been in the mansion for one or two months and should have some news by now, but there was none.
Li Changqing and Liu Wenwen were somewhat resentful. They didn't expect the two women to be so cunning. Li Changqing had overheard this news by chance. He originally thought that by spreading this news to these two concubines, they would oppose Wu Lian'er, but unexpectedly, they were so cowardly and chose such a method, making all his efforts in vain.
As if he couldn't get enough of watching the show, he secretly sent people to follow the personal maids of the two concubines. He found out which clinic they usually got their medicine from and then, with some difficulty, found Li Zixin.
"There's something I don't know if I should say, Father. Perhaps what I'm guessing is wrong, but I feel it concerns the continuation of our Li family's lineage, and it's necessary to tell you."
Li Zixin's interest was piqued when he heard it was about his most important concern. "Oh? What is it that makes you come all this way? Tell me quickly."
"The servants in my courtyard recently caught a cold and went to Baicaotang to get medicine. There, they ran into the personal maids of the two concubines. They vaguely heard them talking to the doctor, saying that the contraceptive soup was very effective and asked him to prescribe more, so they wouldn't have to run to the clinic so often. My servant overheard this and felt something was amiss. The more he thought about it, the more it felt wrong, so he rushed back to tell me."
At first, Li Zixin could listen calmly. But the more he heard the content of his son's words, the more his face darkened. After a while, he adjusted himself and said kindly, "These things are just your speculation, and it's best not to spread them. Once I investigate and find out the truth, we can think about how to handle it."
Li Changqing nodded. As soon as he left, Li Zixin's expression immediately fell, and he decided to investigate personally.